Comcast Just Spent Millions To Connect Everything In Your Home To The Internet

Comcast has agreed to acquire PowerCloud Systems, a
WiFi-monitoring and analytics service provider, according to
TechCrunch. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed,
but TechCrunch says the deal was under $50 million.

Launched in 2008 as a spinoff
from Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), PowerCloud
Systems specializes in WiFi management systems control. Its
enterprise product CloudCommand VC allows companies to manage and
control their Internet connections, while its consumer product
Skydog does the same thing for the home. For example, you can
remotely control the number of users in your network and set the
bandwidth limit for each device, on a centralized cloud
platform.

TechCrunch said the deal was
“mainly an acquihire,”
meaning that Comcast mainly bought the company to recruit its
workforce. However, TechCrunch did say that Comcast plans on
leveraging PowerCloud’s technology to build what it calls a
bigger “smart internet” strategy.

“It’s all around smart
internet,” Tyson Marian, who works in Strategic Development at
Comcast, told
VentureBeat when asked about the deal. “So you can connect
new devices and manage your devices on a home network with heavy
security.”

With more and more devices
being connected to a centralized network, it’s not hard to see
why Comcast is investing in this area.